I got an anon. comment on an older post in which I was pondering the connections between local Repug poster boy, Scott Sewell, and our own faux Dem. Mayor, has-anybody-seen Ray Nagin.
HSOA (Home Solutions of America) and a handful of companies owned by a local businessman, Aaron Bennett, received a ton of post-K no bid contracts from Nagin...as in over 50 million in contracts....pumped into their coffers. Everything from the city IT contract to replacing sidewalks in the French Quarter to the contract to remove all the flooded cars from the city after the Federal Flood....these guys have an LLC for any contract you can throw at them. Sewell was on the board of HSOA and was apparently heading up the Louisiana division of the company, HSRLA (Home Solutions Restoration of Louisiana).
The comment tipped me off to this. According to this SEC form, Sewell was terminated from HSOA two weeks ago. I'm assuming that means getting your ass kicked to the curb and not a "mutual separation".
While I'm not big on delving into the dealings of private companies and individuals, I take exception when those companies/individuals have landed so much of our city's cash from no bid contracts.
What's the skinny here? Is the company distancing themselves from Sewell due to possible illicit or unethical activity? Inquiring minds want to know.
And let's not forget, Ray Ray and Muppet took a ride to the Chicago playoff game last year on HSOA's G4 Leer Jet. Which is absolutely an ILLEGAL act on Nagin's part. The only difference in this and what OT did is that OT's kickback was cash...Nagin's was an all expense paid trip.
UPDATE:
anonymous said...
second hand, the remaining rats on the sinking hsoa ship say sewell was fired for unethical type stuff. my belief is that sewell was fired because he was unwilling to overlook fraud being commited by execs at hsoa.....two recent lawsuits of note: a suit was filed against associated contractors in ms federal court for stiffing subcontractors at stennis, a cease and desist suit was filed a month or so ago in orleans parish by the city vs benetech, unsure of the details.....fwiw, i observed sewell make himself scarce as nagin approached sewells section on the floor of a recent hornets game. definately on the outs.
This is getting good. Methinks there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.
11 comments:
I can't remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure he (Sewell) is tight with Jindal. Maybe he's going to work for the state?
second hand, the remaining rats on the sinking hsoa ship say sewell was fired for unethical type stuff. my belief is that sewell was fired because he was unwilling to overlook fraud being commited by execs at hsoa.....two recent lawsuits of note: a suit was filed against associated contractors in ms federal court for stiffing subcontractors at stennis, a cease and desist suit was filed a month or so ago in orleans parish by the city vs benetech, unsure of the details.....fwiw, i observed sewell make himself scarce as nagin approached sewells section on the floor of a recent hornets game. definately on the outs.
From the *k
"The termination by the Company was for "cause" pursuant to the terms of the Employment Agreement"
Getting terminated for refusing to overlook unethical and illegal acts, would make a serious lawsuit so I suppose whatever they have on Sewell is pretty strong.
Perhaps Sewell is being made a "willing' scape goat?
All of this except the quote is pure speculation.
- "The termination by the Company was for "cause" pursuant to the terms of the Employment Agreement"
I think that is just a generic statement. If you want to fire someone you can always find a reason, their just saying he somehow violated his contract.
I was there and this will get interesting. Anxious to see what turns up. A minor point regarding schools competition however...they were competitively bid so its not accurate to say that there was no competition. Now the selection process might have been a different story....
it wasn't just the school contracts...Benetech took over the IT contract without a bid post Netmethods. I think they got the car removal contract without a competitive bid.
I may be misleading in stating that over 50 mill in no bid contracts were let...I don't know that for sure....but much of that amount was no-bid.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/NewOrleans/New_Orleans_Begins_Major_French_Quarter_CBD_Sidewalk_Repairs__5605.asp
i guess this is the mysterious $7million french quarter sidewalk contract. i still havent heard back from the city about how this job was bid. i have been unable to find any documentation about this contract. ....also, homesolutions/associated contractors made an sec filing friday saying among other things that they missed their quarterly $2million credit facility payment. does the city condone doing business with deadbeats? is this the payment for last years chicago/las vegas trip?
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/080111/hsoa.pk8-k.html
new 8k from hsoa today. sewell states his case and is working with the fbi. oy vey.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/855424/000095013408000504/d53073exv5w2.htm
sewell and fradella cut the pirates ally ribbon together last week. good job ray.
Benetech
's entire operation is a sham. They were also given a no bid contract for cm/pm work for the new Plaquemine's prisons. After flat out billing...errr, stealing over 1.2 million from FEMA, it went back out for release and is now some sort of joint venture between Benetech and CDM. I have hard data and timesheets to back it up, Mr Bennet exemplifies everything that is corrupt and wrong with NO>
Anyone still up to-date with this info? sadly we hired someone from this group to run our company and now are looking at the some big problems... Any help would be greatly appreciated...
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